Résumé
This paper aims to show how is participation enacted in different multi-stakeholder partnerships that share the same governance framework. Positioning at the crossroads of organisation, development and public policy studies, we identify the standard variables that construct the field of participation within a multi-stakeholder setting. Drawing on a mixed-methods case study of six public multi-stakeholder organisations in Croatia implementing the European Union LEADER programme following this conceptual framework -LEADER standing for Liaison Entre Actions de Développement et de l’Economie Rurale (Links between actions for the development of the rural economy we identify six key variables that describe the field of participation. Based on these variables we develop a diagram of participation that delineates the conditions under which active or passive participation occurs.